They say the first line of a story is either a door or a wall. We want doors. Dark ones. Share the opening line of something you're working on, or one you've always wanted to write but haven't yet. It can be one sentence. It can be two. Just make it the kind of line that makes someone need to know what comes next. Drop it in the comments 👇

Transgressive fiction has a way of getting under your skin and staying there. Bret Easton Ellis, Cormac McCarthy, Chuck Palahniuk, Flannery O'Connor — these writers didn't ask for permission to go dark. They just went. So we want to know: What's the one book that made you feel genuinely uncomfortable — and you loved it for that? Did it influence your own writing? Would you recommend it here, or is it too much even for this crowd? Drop it in the comments. No judgement. This is exactly the place for it.

From "The Butterfly Defect" a novel currently at 150,000 words that will never see the light of day. In this scene, Tracy, having already been led to the dark side by Simon before he died, finds out what he left her in his will. And when she wonders what to do about it, she finds out even more about herself. -------- The contents of the box revealed themselves to be eighty thousand pounds in cash, which Tracy asked Adam to bank for her, a tangled bunch of war medals, pouches of rare coins and a rust stained dagger with a swastika and "SS" engraved in the hilt. She recoiled at the last item. "Is that what I think it is?" "It is. And it's illegal in the UK and most of Europe, being genuine Nazi memorabilia." When he saw Tracy frown, he added. "Oh, don't worry, it wasn't Simon's originally. He liberated it from East Berlin after the war. Nevertheless, you can't put it on the open market without risking a stiff penalty. But we have contacts if you'd like us to sell it for you?" Tracy thought for a while. Her first instinct was to have it destroyed, but her inner, darker voice spoke up. To do so would be to invalidate whatever Simon had endured to acquire it. Maybe even death-defying efforts, for all she knew. And who was she to just write that off? If he'd wanted it destroyed, it wouldn't be here. But still… "What would you think of me if I tried to make money from that?" she asked. Adam took a large swig of whisky. "It's irrelevant what I'd think of you," he said, turning the dagger so it caught the light. "I suspect you know that. But you also might like to know that I wouldn't care in the least. See, this firm has quite a niche clientele, with Simon, and now yourself being prime examples. It's okay, don't be shy about it." He placed the dagger back on the table and flicked it into a slow spin with a pudgy finger. When the spin slowed, then stopped, it was pointing right at her. "You're special, Tracy. It's no surprise you and Simon found each other. We're a little special here, too. People have their own interpretations of morality. You, Simon, me and the other members of this firm share an interpretation that's somewhat distant from the middle of the bell curve, shall we say?" He looked up from the dagger and right into her eyes. "You've not only entertained Simon's butterfly collecting, as he called it, but you've enjoyed it too, yes?"

A paragraph, an opening line, a scene that's been sitting in your drafts, or something you finished last night at 2am and can't stop thinking about. No polishing required. No apologies needed. Let's see what you've got!

Tell us who you are, and what you write. You don't need to share your name. You don't need a publishing credit or a finished manuscript. All you need is a love for dark, fearless storytelling. Tell us: What kind of dark fiction do you write or read? Which author or book pulled you into this world? What are you working on right now? We'll start, this is a place where your darkest ideas finally have a room to breathe.